NCJ Number
222064
Journal
Homeland Defense Journal Volume: 5 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2007/January 2008 Pages: 30-33
Date Published
December 2007
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Using al-Qaeda (AQ) (terrorist group) and Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) (violent gang) as examples, this article examines how organizations with widely varying philosophies and missions could form a union and pose a new and potentially deadly threat to the United States.
Abstract
Al-Qaeda (AQ) is religiously based and has a global Salafist vision, interested in the spiritual well-being of people, waging jihad to govern, with or without consent of the governed. AQ uses spectacular attacks, seeking mass casualties and mass media coverage. Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) is more socially based and has a local focus, seeming more interested in the power that money brings and ruling a series of barrios or territories throughout a number of cities. MS-13 prefers violence through horrific killings that terrorizes a neighborhood. It would appear that MS-13 is interested in monetary gains, while AQ’s desires extend beyond money towards extremism in worldly dominance with a religious goal. The union of these two groups would pose a new, clear, and present threat to the United States. This article profiles these two groups; their historical background, current status, and their threat, individually, to national security; and the increased threat when two uniquely different organizations striving for power using violent and terrifying tactics form a union.